Menu and other stuff

Just Kidding.

I don't cook during soccer season. Ok. I do. Some. But not a lot. Here is why:

Monday: Josh practices until 5:30, meaning he gets home at 6:00. I teach piano lessons until 5:00. (ok, so I usually cook something easy on Mondays. Last night it was hamburgers)

Tuesday: soccer game (I don't think there is a Tuesday during soccer season where we don't have a game). We are usually home by 9:30

Wednesday: I pick Owen up after work around 5:00 and we have youth group at 6:00 (Owen is going to Puggles this year!)

Thursday: I teach piano until 5:45 and Josh has a game at 6:00. (again, we are usually home by 9:30)

Friday: I really, really should cook on Friday. All throughout our marriage its something we've kind of gotten away from. But in light of our crazy schedules throughout the fall, I'm going to try a lot harder to cook. Usually we get together with friends or just completely veg out on Friday nights.....but we'll see.

Saturday: Ok. I can cook on Saturday too....some Saturdays Josh will have tournaments, but not all.

Sunday: I can cook here too.

So...its not completely impossible, it just seems hard. Especially during the week. I'm going to try and concentrate on making the weekend meals a bit more consistently. I have majorly slacked off on trying new recipes. Anyone have anything good they want to send my way? :-) I'm looking forward to cooler weather for reasons such as chili, chicken corn chowder, chicken tortilla soup and CORNBREAD. OH YA BABY. Lovin' that stuff. Although it will probably be ninety degrees until November. I can't complain really. We've had a very mild summer. I'm just ready for fall the day kids go back to school. I even got my pumpkin candle out last night and I'm trying to figure out when I get out my fall decor. I'll try and hold off until mid-September but I make no promises!

Other Stuff:

I've started a new work schedule. I love it. Instead of working a half day every Friday, I am working all day every OTHER Friday. So every other week I only work two days. Its fantastic really. Every other week I have five days off in a row (including the weekend, but still, its good).

I still really enjoy the balance of being at home a few days, and being in the office a few days. I never thought I would be a part-time working mom, but I find that it suits me well. However, I'm continuing to pick up more piano students, which may allow me to only work from home eventually....maybe. I'm not sure that's what I want. We'll see. And then I keep thinking about going back to school.....ugggh. I just don't know. Josh is done with classes for the most part, so technically its my turn. Again, we'll see :-)

With the return of school, comes the return of routine. I like it. Most of our days are nicely scheduled. I'm back to doing spinning classes at the gym with a friend (YAY!), Josh and I are working with the Senior Highers at College Park again (we are actually co-leading together, how great is that....all I have to say is that God is GOOD!), and our small group will start back up here at the beginning of September.

Its times like these....when I sit back and think about all we are able to do, and how full our life is that I just feel very blessed. Blessed to walk through the hard times, blessed to have Owen, blessed to have a future and a hope....blessed to just LIVE and to be a family.

Oh, and Owen is great. Sometimes his cuteness overwhelms me. I'm blanking on examples of specific cuteness, but every day he does something and I just am thinking "My kid is great. How did I get so lucky? Is everyone's kid so stinkin' funny?....." and yah....you get the idea. I'm cherishing the days where I can ask for a kiss and still get one (we actually play a game where he runs from me and then comes back and kisses me...its wonderful!).....and I'm rocking him at night every time he will let me, and I'm rubbing his back every night when he asks me....and oh yah, "Momma, I hold you"....means, "Momma, please hold me" and you can pretty much know that everytime he says this, he is gonna get held. Yep. How much longer do I have before he isn't little and Josh and I aren't his world anymore? I dont' know. I don't think about it anymore. I'm just living in the present. Because God gives enough grace for tomorrow....and tomorrow isn't here yet.

We just finished a series at College Park on "How to Kill Relationships and Irritate People". It was very, very good. If you are so inclined, go take a listen. The sermons are online. I've linked to the church's website on the title of the series. We talked about Pride, Anger, Living with Unresloved Conflict and The Tongue (words).....and I found something that needed fixing in my life in every sermon. (darn it, and I thought I was getting close to perfect by now!) I don't know what else to say....except that (and I say it all of the time) but I just love our church. After moving back to Indianapolis, I knew College Park is where I wanted to attend because of Kimber Kauffman. I had listened to him on the radio enough to know that his teaching was something we shouldn't miss. We got to sit under his preaching for two years before he resigned, and I never, ever believed that I would love a Pastor as much as I loved Kimber....but Mark Vroegop (College Park's new Lead Pastor) is really in the running. :-) Now.....if we could only get people to attend business meetings and work in the nursery things would be perfect! (ha ha!) All that being said...if you are in Indy, and you are looking for a place to worship....God is DOING THINGS at College Park...He is changing lives and bringing people to Himself.....of course its not a perfect place....and you might be frustrated because there aren't a lot of extra parking places and services are overcrowded, but if you can get beyond the details that need improving, you will most likely have your socks blessed off. Ok. Soapbox on my church is over.

I think that's about it. I need to put pictures on here, but honestly we haven't taken a lot lately. I'll try and fix that. Just know that Owen is as cute as ever....and he recently got a haircut making him look about 18 years old and I can't stand it....I'm keeping his curls next time!

This post is way too long to comment on, but hopefully my family is satisfied enough with this to know that we are alive, we are busy, but we are happy :-) Happy (almost) Fall!

Not me Mondays!

Ok. So I've gotten out of the habit of doing this, but I'm going to try again....because its really fun! Actually, its more fun to read about what other people and other people's kids have "NOT DONE", but you know.....I guess I should be brave and do it too. So. Here we go!

1. On Saturday evening I started to have an arthritis flare up, SO....on Sunday morning I totally DID NOT take a vicodin that was two years old (given to me by my OBGYN for my heroic efforts in childbirth) and think I would be completely fine to go about my day. The vicodin did NOT make me deathly ill and I certainly did NOT spend the day moaning and groaning in my bed about how sick I felt. My arthritis flare up? Totally gone. The effects of the seriously questionable vicodin I took? Still lingering today.....oh well! LIVE AND LEARN and BE SMARTER!

2. I did NOT make a big grocery shopping trip with Owen on Saturday in which I DID NOT forget something that I've had on my list for like five weeks. Salt. Seriously we have NO salt in our house and for some reason I just can't see it on my list or I can't remember it for the life of me when I have no list. Our food is (NOT!) :-) very bland lately! Also, I DID NOT forget the salt and I also DID NOT come home with at least ten items that weren't even on my list. Like doritos and chocolate milk. I mean I would never keep junk food like that in my house....and I definitely DID not just eat doritios with my lunch today! Nope! I don't even like the cheesey goodness of a dorito! NOT ME!

3. On Sunday, when I was gorked out on vicodin, I definitely did NOT choose to ignore my two year old who had wandered into our bedroom/ master bathroom and thought it would be fun to flush the toilet 200 times. I was in between consciousness and I definitely did not keep thinking "Josh is in charge, he will come in and see what Owen is doing. I can just lay here and take no responsibility to whatever happens". Nope. I'm always a responsible mother, even when gorked out on narcotics.

4. Lastly, (barely managing to recover from my date with vicodin for our kick off leaders meeting for Senior High Youth Group last night) I did NOT of my own free will steal baby Luke from his mother, Emily, and proceed to smell his sweet baby head and rock back and forth with him like a crazy person who has never held a baby before and because Luke is super tiny and petite (and I mean NOT super tiny and petite) I did NOT nearly throw out my back and cramp up my arm by holding him for ten minutes. No, fifteen. It was definitely AT LEAST fifteen minutes and I am certainly not a wimp. Shew. Good thing spinning class starts back for me this week! I definitely DON'T need to bufff up!

Owenisms

(Or just some cute stories about our kid)

Inspired by something cute that Owen did this morning, I thought I should take a few minutes to record some of the funny things he has been doing.

-This morning Owen was coloring at his little table in our "dining room" (I put dining room in quotes because...well, its not really a room, just a section off of our kitchen and living room that we put our table in :-)); announced that he was done coloring, put all of his crayons back in his plastic baggy, pushed in his chair and neatly stacked his coloring book and other books on his table. I watched all of this with a small smile on my face....after all....I am the cleanie of the house, and I sadly admit that on days that I am at home I sometimes trail after Owen cleaning up his mess. Maybe he's catching on. Oh dear. What have I created? :-)

-He has learned to say the letter "W" and he is really proud of himself. Its the only letter that he couldn't pronounce for really long time. We are also working on spelling his name...he is SO close!

-Josh told me this story. The other day Owen was sitting in our bed watching something (Sid the Science Kid, maybe?) and he looked over to our night stand where my diamond earrings happened to be lying (lying, laying? I can never quite remember...sorry Dr. Sauders and Mrs. Rust!). He looked over at Josh and said: "Dad. I want those. I take them. K"?...and went to grab my earrings! Thankfully Josh didn't let him...and I've learned to set them out of my little klepto's reach! But seriously. How funny is that?

-He loves all things soccer. He talks all the time about being a soccer player and going to a soccer game. Good news. In a week his wish will come true. Josh's first soccer game is August 17....and we will spend the next two months living and breathing soccer. I'm afraid that if Owen DOESN'T end up a star soccer player playing for the World Cup someday I might actually be disappointed! (just kidding of course!) This kid lives and breathes soccer. Josh brought him home a little goal the other day and Owen is in heaven.

-Owen asks us everyday to go to church and to go to school. He loves his "Sunday School Class" at College Park, and I'm really excited because he is going to get to go to Puggles this year while Josh and I head back to senior high youth group to be sponsors. (Puggles is Awana for toddlers!) I think he will love it!

-He is speaking really well....sometimes in sentences, but sometimes not. I can almost always figure out what he is saying or what he wants me to do. It's great being able to communicate with him...now to teach him French and Spanish! :-)

-His evening prayers are incredibly cute. Usually I will ask him to pray first and then I will finish . His prayers usually go something like this: Dear Jesus, pray Bayey, pray Cabey, pray Roxy. And Pappa and Gamma's house. And Patches. And Bandon,Header (Heather). AMEN! (Sometimes he remembers Rachel, sometimes not! Don't worry Rach, I always catch you if he forgets!) :-) Oh goodness. The cuteness just overwhelms me!

Anyways, I am loving these days. He is becoming such a little person and its so much fun to watch him grow. I mourn the passing of his babyhood, but with deep appreciation that God allowed it to be such a sweet time. I try really hard to stay in the present with him and enjoy each moment for what it is. The days are truly gone too fast. Once again...I'm incredibly humbled and grateful for the gift of our son. God truly is so good to us!

Owen's new room!

We've finally gotten Owen's room put together! I love it! The colors turned out GREAT (I think) and I think it will be a room he can really grow with.
All of this being said....Owen is STILL sleeping in his crib! I'm just NOT moving him until it doesn't work anymore. He has only tried to get out of his crib on one occasion and this resulted in him falling flat on his back (this was nearly a year ago) and he hasn't tried it since! So. We've decided that sleep is too precious of a commodity to mess with until it is unavoidable!

So for now.....all of Owen's toys have been moved to his big boy room and he is loving having a new space to play in (since his "toy room" has been closed off for the last month and most of his toys have been packed away for the re-model!)

We still have "surfer boy" decorations to hang on the wall....and I'm still keeping my eyes out for a better storage system for toys, but all in all....his room is great! We love it! Can't believe my boy is old enough to have a little boy room. But this does free up the nursery a bit....hmmmm....(sorry no announcement!) :-)